Campus Library Offers Morning-After Pill Vending Machine, and It’s Getting More Popular

Dozens of college campuses across the U.S. now feature vending machines stocked with emergency contraception options, like Plan B, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Since last November, a library at the University of Washington has housed one of the machines, dispensing the morning-after pill, as well as pregnancy tests, ibuprofen and other medical items.

That school’s machine, which was installed after a student-led campaign, offers boxes of generic Plan B for $12.60, about a quarter of what the name-brand versions sell for in stores. More than 640 boxes have been sold.

Machines at some other schools offer the drug for even cheaper prices, as low as $7. Similar vending machines are now operating at 39 universities across 17 states, with at least 20 other schools considering them, according to the American Society for Emergency Contraception.

While over-the-counter purchase of Plan B and its generic forms is legal in all 50 states, the machines are aimed at ensuring cheap, discreet and widely available access to emergency contraceptives at a time of shifting laws around abortion.

“If you live in a state where you cannot get an abortion and you can’t get an abortion anywhere near you, the stakes are so much higher than they’ve ever been before,” said Kelly Cleland, executive director of the ASEC.

Some schools with the machines, such as the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, are in states where abortion is largely banned.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, a patchwork set of regulations around abortion access has formed, with laws varying widely from state to state.

Some states that maintain less restrictive standards, such as Kansas and Minnesota, have seen sharp increases in demand for abortions, fueled by people traveling from nearby states with tougher laws.

In Illinois and New York, lawmakers are developing legislation that would require at least one vending machine selling emergency contraceptives on the campuses of state colleges.

And in Connecticut, legislators earlier this year approved a measure allowing Plan B and other over-the-counter medications to be sold from vending machines at locations including campuses.

“This just enables people to have better access and easier access,” said Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria, one of several Republicans in Connecticut's Democratic-controlled General Assembly who supported the measure. “You may need Plan B, as we all know, in the middle of the night, and you won’t have access to a pharmacy until the morning.”

Although the morning-after pill has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for over-the-counter sale, many retailers keep it behind the counter or locked up, requiring identification for purchase and making the experience of purchasing intimidating.

“When you have a vending machine, it takes away a lot of those barriers," Cleland said. “Students can go on their own terms to get it when they need it.”

With Associated Press